Philippines

Philippine central bank Governor Eli Remolona said he is open to an unscheduled interest-rate hike before the November meeting and that a pivot to easing was unlikely in the first half of 2024, Bloomberg News reported. “I am open to an off-cycle increase,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg News in Manila on Monday, acknowledging that his rhetoric has become “more hawkish” since taking office in July.

The Philippine central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for a third straight meeting as the economy slowed while signaling that policy settings will remain tight amid inflation risks, Bloomberg News reported. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas maintained its overnight reverse repurchase rate at 6.25% on Thursday during Eli Remolona’s first policy decision as governor. The move was predicted by 22 of 24 economists in a Bloomberg survey, with two expecting a rate hike.

The Philippine central bank will exercise caution against “too much” monetary tightening to avoid crimping economic growth, according to Governor Eli Remolona, Bloomberg News reported. “If we are going to hike, we have to be very careful not to hike too much,” Remolona said at a briefing in Manila Friday, when asked if the economy can handle more tightening on top of the 425-basis points of increases since last year.

The Philippines central bank will likely leave its key interest rate unchanged at 6.25% on Thursday, and keep it there for the rest of 2023, marking an end to a year-long tightening cycle as inflation shows signs of cooling, a Reuters poll found. Although annual inflation slowed to 6.6% in April from a peak of 8.7% in January, it remained well above the central bank's target range of 2-4%, suggesting the cumulative rate hikes of 425 basis points are yet to have an impact.

The Philippine central bank could pause interest rate hikes at its monetary policy meeting this week, its governor said on Monday, after inflation in April eased for a third straight month, Reuters reported. "If you're sure this is a permanent trend, clearly we must pause because there will be no need for another one," Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Felipe Medalla told reporters on the sidelines of a financial stability conference.

Philippine central bank Governor Felipe Medalla has signaled that pausing from policy rate increases may be an option when the monetary board meets in May, after inflation eased last month, Bloomberg News reported. Medalla, in a mobile-phone message late Saturday, said Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas could pause on rate hikes if April’s month-on-month inflation “is low, like February and March.” The central bank chief earlier said that it may be “too early” to keep the policy rate unchanged in the next meeting unless prices fall.

It may be too soon for the Philippine central bank to pause from raising interest rates at its next policy meeting in May, Governor Felipe Medalla said, signaling its most aggressive tightening cycle in two decades could continue, Bloomberg News reported. May is “too early” to pause, “unless we actually see a price fall,” Medalla said in an interview Thursday on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations forum in Bali, Indonesia.

Cebu Air Inc. will fully restore its pre-pandemic capacity in March, putting the Philippines’ largest budget carrier on the path to “full recovery and profitability” this year, said President and Chief Commercial Officer Alexander Lao, Bloomberg News reported. Cebu Air probably cut its loss to 2.09-billion peso ($38.3 million) in 2022, according to street consensus, as easing of virus curbs and travel restrictions allowed it to mount more flights. Its losses peaked 27.2 billion pesos in 2021 after a 23-billion peso loss in 2020.

The number of initial public offerings at the Philippine Stock Exchange will probably rise to a record this year, with a value of at least 150 billion pesos ($2.7 billion), bourse President Ramon Monzon said in a virtual briefing, Reuters reported. The guidance is based on existing IPOs in the pipeline and share sales that have already take place, including eight in the first half of the year that raised a total of 76.17 billion pesos, according to Monson.

The Philippines will likely follow its interest-rate increase last month with at least two more hikes to curb inflation, according to the central bank’s incoming governor, Bloomberg News reported. “It’s almost a sure thing to everyone that we will raise in June,” Felipe Medalla, a board member of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas who is set to take over from Benjamin Diokno as governor on July 1, said in an interview Tuesday. There is a “90% chance there’s another one in August.